The production and marketing of sustainable forest products: chewing gum in Mexico

Abstract

Natural chewing gum (chicle) represents just 3.5 per cent of the total chewing-gum market, which is dominated by synthetic chewing gum made from hydrocarbons. However, recent interest in sustainable livelihood strategies has opened up opportunities for enlarging chicle commercialisation for what is still a small, niche market. The production of chicle can serve to strengthen forest conservation and provide regular employment to those dependent on forest products, as part of a range of sustainable forest activities. However, the production and marketing of natural chewing gum have faced several serious problems: producers in Mexico have been organised in ways that enabled them to be exploited by both intermediaries and state institutions, and the processes of certification for organics and fair trade are unwieldy and expensive. This article suggests a number of ways of addressing these problems.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Community Forest Management: Evolution and Limitations in Mexican Forest Law, Policy and Practice

“…103). Particularly during the 1930s, the federal government supported the creation of cooperatives and NTFPs harvesters' organizations, an initiative that in some cases had lasting effects [81,82]. The 1960 law even allowed landless people to commercially harvest NTFP in federally owned land ( [66], art.…”

“…Before the 1986 law, communities were largely excluded from timber management, yet this was not the case for NTFPs harvest. Communities were always allowed to commercially manage NTFPs, and for different periods, beginning in the 1930s, the federal government supported the creation of cooperatives and harvester's organizations [81,82].…”

“…Conversely, in other contexts, usually in communities where official CFM was established later, where NTFPs and non-conventional forest products dominate, or those where forestry is more marginal, conventional forestry tends to have permeated to a lesser extent and TEK remains essential for forest management decisions e.g., copal resin, tropical polewood [108,124]. In some contexts where local communities have a long history of commercial forest management, as is the case with various industrial NTFPs (e.g., chicle [82]) and some timber management operations [166], the boundaries between TEK and technical knowledge can be particularly fluid given their long history of interaction and mutual influence in a situated-practice context [167].…”

Endurance and Adaptation of Community Forest Management in Quintana Roo, Mexico

“…One example is a timber-marketing fund established with federal monies to secure higher prices and to find national and international outlets for lesser-known timber species [97]. The Consorcio Chiclero is an initiative that resulted from the merging of the chicle-tapper cooperative movement with the Plan Piloto Chiclero, a product (or outcome) of the Forestry Pilot Plan [114]. Nonetheless, the production and economic benefits of chicle and other NTFPs are currently minimal in Quintana Roo.…”

Forest Spice Development: the Use of Value Chain Analysis to Identify Opportunities for the Sustainable Development of Ethiopian Cardamom (Korerima)

“…This would allow the PLCs or cooperatives to trade threshed and powdered korerima to the national markets at significantly higher prices. Further value could be achieved if the product could be endorsed with organic or fair trade certification, although this is not always a straightforward process (Ponte et al, 2004;Taylor et al, 2005;Forero and Redclift, 2007;Reed, 2009). …”